Pages

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Wow, has it really been a week since I was last on here?!? I guess so!

Before I forget, this is a fact about our ranch that we figured out the other day - we have about 190 animals, just here on our side (goats, sheep, llamas, dogs, rabbits, guineas, chickens, cats)!! And guess what. . . about 160 of those are named :)! We all thought that was pretty funny.

I've been waiting and waiting for the right does to come into heat, but they haven't yet. The other day the bucks were blubbering at the fence, so I went down there to see what was up... hoping a doe was in heat that I wanted to breed. But, nope, it was just little Snickers in a total standing heat. She is not ready to breed for a few more months.

The past few days I have been researching a lot about worms, specifically Barber pole worms (Haemonchus contortus). I have read about them before, but have really been looking into it. I think Dancer is having trouble with them, steady weight loss and anemia. The stress of the move probably brought it on, and I was worming him with a wormer that will not deal with Barber pole worms. After talking to a long time goat breeder, she gave me her vet's treatment plan that they have seen work many times. It is Valbazen that they use. Valbazen is one of the "white" wormers, along with Safeguard, etc.

So we got it, and I started treatment on Monday. Hopefully he pulls through.

We've had good success using Cydectin the past 2 years here in Oklahoma, but I have heard that this year it is not working as well for many folks. In California, we would worm about once a year with Ivermectin, and then after a doe kidded with Safeguard. It worked, but that was the DESERT :).

One thing people do not do or remember, which is a HUGE key, is having healthy goats otherwise. An unhealthy goat that is not in good condition is going to be a prime target for worms, compared to a healthy goat that can fight them off. Good feed, nutrition, minerals and especially copper boluses help with this. It has been found that doing regular copper boluses help reduce HC worms (barber pole worms). Okay, off my soapbox now ;).

Onto other things. . . the little kid, Cutie Booty, is doing great and growing well. I don't have any updated pictures of her at the moment, will have to get some though. This morning Mom saw Baby do the normal "birth stretch". . . so maybe we'll have some kids soon!!

One another note, the other day I made some cheese from regular milk, and some from low-fat milk (milk that has run through the cream separator). I thought it was interesting to see the difference in the cheese. They are both good. The one made with low-fat milk (on the left in the photo) is more crumbly, dryer but still good. The one made with full-fat milk (on the right in the photo) was way more creamy and kind of "sticky", still good, but it was more like a spread. That can change though depending on how long you hang it.

Last Wednesday they (Mom and my little sister) traded a lady named Nancy for some dairy sheep! They got one ram and 2 ewes. So next year we might get to try some sheep milk, Lord willing.

AND very surprisingly, they are not too scared, one of the ewes will come up to you! She's still a little bit scared of the little (human) kids, probably because they move to fast. But to have a friendly sheep :).

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I know, it's definitely time for a blog post! Things have been going pretty good - it's really hot here! Every evening when the milkers come back to be milked some of them are really hot, especially the big old girls - so we have to put cool water on them, which they don't care for, but it works.

The bucks are now stinky and getting yellow and worse every day. I haven't noticed any does in obvious heats yet, but they should start coming in any time... I'm waiting! There's a few does that we milked through last year that I am going to breed on their first heat this year.

Baby and Prissy are still HUGE, but they're doing surprisingly fine in the heat.

Here's some photos from the past week.

all the animals grazing close to "home" after milking,

goats in. . . the jungle?

one of the meat doe kids. . . she hid her face right when I took the picture!

This is little Berry, the Nigerian Dwarf buck. He is so small and fat, there must be something wrong with him :)! He is 2 1/2 years old and tiny. . . I guess he'll just always be short.

Parker,

Hug,

My brother Todahyah built a new pen for his 2 pigs - a boar and a guilt that is due in September, I think.

the pond ;),

and one of the roads in the pasture,

That's all the pictures for now. There's really not much else to update on. . . just busy with life. The little goat kid that our friend gave us, Miss Cutie Booty, is doing great! She's such a silly little goat. Now she is staying out in the stall in the day and in the bathroom (in her crate) at night.

Monday, July 12, 2010

There is a new kid on the block. . . she is about a week old, a tiny little thing. Our friend and neighbor bought a Nubian doe with 2 kids, a buckling and doeling. She was going to pull both kids and put them on the bottle. She talked us into taking the little doeling home :) - thanks Stacey ;)! Putting her on the bottle was extremely easy and the dam is doing just fine also with that.

We told my little sister that she could name her, she named her "Cutie", but my little brother - her twin - wanted to name her "Booty" - so I guess her name is "Cutie Booty" :)!! I guess it fits. She is very colorful and I think she is adorable.

There is soo much stuff coming from the gardens right now it is amazing! Right now there is a whole table full of produce that has to be dealt with, probably some tomorrow and then Wednesday.

this is part of the cucumber area,

some peppers,

a giant sunflower,

some pretty pink flowers,

Oh, and this is my cousin and another guy looking for missing horses the other day. . . my cousin didn't care too much for that ;)!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Yesterday I made some cheese, a different kind though - it's called Paneer. It is pretty close to how I make the vinegar/easy cheese, slightly different, but then you press it for an hour. You can see the recipe here. Instead of using books as the recipe shows, I used a 10 lb can (canned food). It isn't very flavorful, but it is yummy! I made one using lemon juice (as the recipe calls for), and then another one using apple cider vinegar (because one of my brothers does not handle lemon well). I might try regular white vinegar next time.

Things that have gone on the past few days are. . .

. . . making lots of pickles. . .

. . . zucchini marmalade. . .

this is really good, way better than I thought it would be.

. . . dozer rides. . .

. . . fireworks. . .

this was on the 4th.

and Rosie, when she was in the stall (she's out now) - her coat is so shiny!!

Just got another load of hay delivered! Need hay now, or have you thought about storing hay for winter?? We've got it here! Email or call (918-598-4007) for prices and pick-up times.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Well I think it is definitely time for an update. . . first off, here's a late Happy 4th of July to you all!

We had a busy day yesterday watching soccer, barbecuing, fireworks, dancing, staying up late, and of course milking goats and feeding all the animals ;).

In one of my last posts I posted about Rosie and her hurt leg, and how I thought the treatment was working. Well, it worked! She is pretty much all the way back to normal and we let her go out to pasture today. NOTHING else was working, so I am very glad this worked. What we did was mix DMSO in some Fura-Zone cream (we dumped her milk for several days), rubbed it all over her hurt knee (which she really hated, especially the first time!), wrapped it in plastic wrap to create some heat, vet wrap and then tape. We left it on for 12 hours. After the first treatment, it didn't really seem better. 24 hours later we did a second treatment, and after that one it was obviously MUCH better. So we decided to do a 3rd treatment and she's all the way better. Praise the Lord. . .

Rosie in the stall during her treatment,

We've been getting lots of cucumbers from the garden, but not too many tomatoes - there is a fungus going around that my Mom learned about the other day. It is called black spot fungus (I think). . . hopefully she can find something to stop it, otherwise it looks like we won't have much produce this year.

Well, not too many pictures today since they have to be uploaded to the computer and I'm not doing that right now. . .

About Me

Hello! My name is Suriyah. Me and my family raise quality Mini-Nubians, Nubians, Alpines and Boers. We also have many other animals including sheep, llamas, donkeys, ponies, pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks, quail, dogs and cats. Feel free to check out our website for more info and ask any questions you may have! I am also 18 years old and blessed to be the 4th of 11 children, living in the country in beautiful Oklahoma! Follow along my blog to read about our family's life and life on the farm, which will at times be happy and other times be sad :). But above all, make sure you fear God and believe the Bible. Have a good day and I hope you enjoy reading!